Attention, please. This is Lunar Station One.
Today, we proudly congratulate Rob,
the first person born on the Moon to reach thirty years of age.
They hung silver ribbons in Corridor Nine
Turned every working light on at the same time
Thirty little candles flicker on a screen
No living flame allowed inside the machine
The children leave their lessons
The night shift gets an hour
They saved a case of something sweet
And found him one real flower
No one born beneath this dome
Has ever made it quite this long
So everybody gathers round
And tries to call survival home
Rob turns thirty today
While his body fades away
All the station sings his name
Like a hymn against the pain
We can leave the Earth behind
Still she lives in blood and mind
We can build our cities here
But our bones still need Earth near
His legs are thin as shadows
His heartbeat skips and drifts
The doctors praise the numbers
As another rib gives in
His blood still seeks a pressure
That this world cannot provide
His body learned to linger here
It never learned to thrive
Through reinforced glass above him
The Earth hangs blue and bright
A place he could never stand upon
A home that weighs too much
No one says what happens next
No one mentions thirty-one
They raise their cups and cheer again
For everything that has gone wrong
Rob turns thirty today
While his body fades away
All the station sings his name
Like a hymn against the pain
We can leave the Earth behind
Still she lives in blood and mind
We can build our cities here
But our bones still need Earth near
They taught us how to breathe in here
They taught us not to live in fear
They say that Rob has made us strong
But thirty years is not that long
We learned to walk beneath this dome
We call this silent station home
But every child who shuts their eyes
Still dreams of blue and open skies
Will I be thirty too?
Rob looks beyond the window
And says, “I hope you do”
Rob turns thirty today
While his body fades away
All the station sings his name
Like a hymn against the pain
We can leave the Earth behind
Still she lives in blood and mind
We can build our cities here
But our bones still need Earth near
Thirty years beneath a smaller sky
Thirty years beneath a smaller sky
Rob turns thirty today
And no one here has lived that long
